Then They Came for Me_ A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival - Maziar Bahari [70]
I was immersed in these thoughts when I heard the voice of Jon Stewart from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, and then that of Jason Jones, a Daily Show correspondent. “What is it that makes these people evil?” Jones was saying. “I hadn’t signed up for Twitter, so the only way to find out was to go and see for myself.”
No, no, NO! I thought. They can’t be that stupid.
Among the hundreds of journalists from news organizations around the world who had come to Iran to report on the election was a team from Jon Stewart’s satirical news show. I’d met Jason; his producer, Tim Greenberg; and their translator, Mahmoud, about three weeks before the election. Over a few cups of Turkish coffee, we discussed the situation in Iran and Jason asked if he could interview me on camera in a coffee shop. Jason was going to pretend to be a thick-skulled American, and their goal was to present an image of Iran different from the one typically shown on American television. I agreed, and for the interview, Jason wore a checkered Palestinian kaffiyeh around his neck and dark sunglasses. He pretended to be completely ignorant about Iran and eager to find out just how evil Iran was. Introducing me, he joked, “He goes by the code name Pistachio.”
“Why is this American dressed like a spy, Mr. Bahari?” asked the new interrogator.
“He is pretending to be a spy. It’s part of a comedy show,” I answered.
“Tell the truth!” Rosewater shouted. I couldn’t believe it. He honestly seemed to believe what he was saying: that a spy had come to Iran and filmed me for a segment that had appeared on television. From the way he was speaking to me, I drew the conclusion that he was acting tough to impress the other man, who I assumed was his boss. “What is so funny about sitting in a coffee shop with a kaffiyeh and sunglasses?” he demanded.
“It’s just a joke. Nothing serious. It’s stupid.” I was getting worried. “I hope you are not suggesting that he is a real spy.”
“Can you tell us why an American journalist pretending to be a spy chose to interview you?” asked the other man. “We know that you told them who to interview for their program.” I had given Jason and Tim a number of names of people I thought they’d be interested in. Others Jason had interviewed—a former vice president and a former foreign minister—had been arrested a week before me as part of the Revolutionary Guards’ sweeping crackdown.
“It’s just comedy,” I said, feeling weak. I asked them to listen to the content of the interview. In it, I said that Iran and America had many things in common, like fighting drug trafficking and Al Qaeda. At the end of the interview, I concluded that George W. Bush’s infamous statement about Iraq, North Korea, and Iran being the “axis of evil” was as idiotic as Iranians going around and burning the American flag.
Rosewater pulled a chair over and sat in front of me. “Keep your head down,” he said. “Do you think it’s also funny that you say Iran and America have a lot in common?”
I had to give a careful answer. “Sir, all I’m saying is that Iran needs America for its security as much as America needs Iran for the security of its troops and its interest in the region. We are living in a world where nations cannot live in isolation and prosper. Aren’t we all interested in the prosperity of our country?”
“Why do you care about U.S. interests?” asked the new man.
“Don’t you know,” added Rosewater, “that Imam Khomeini called America the Great Satan?”
They didn’t let me answer.
“The imam also asked, ‘Why do we need to have a relationship with America?’ ” Rosewater’s boss said.
“America cannot do a damn thing!” Rosewater said, repeating one of Ruhollah Khomeini’s favorite phrases.
It was as if the two of them had